Low follicle count?

[amby23]

Hello! I am turning 25 in Feb so I thought I’d get an ultrasound to make sure everything was ok in my uterus, ovaries etc. I’ve always been paranoid & careful about my reproductive health as I’m adopted and my mum had many miscarriages and I know how much pain she went through.

During the ultrasound my uterus was fine but the sonographer noticed I had a small follicle count for my age (in my right ovary she couldn’t see my left one due to gas)

I only have 4! I googled this and apparently this is the same amount as someone that’s in their late 40s….

i’m so worried I’m infertile - I wanted to have a baby at 29 and get married and buy a house first but it seems that me and my boyfriend will have to try conceiving now? I don’t feel ready, I do get broody but I feel so young still.

My menstrual cycle seems regular and I am going for a fertility hormone test but I’m just not sure what the best course of action is to take.

Is it shameful to have a baby before you’re married? I really had imagined myself getting married before kids!

but I don’t want this opportunity to go a miss if I’ll be SUPER infertile by the time I’m 40!

Why would it be shameful?

Given 50% of babies are born outside of marriage i'd go with no.

I think the baby before marriage thing is not shameful. It’s perfectly acceptable. Were you brought up with religion? I was, and whilst I’d have had a baby before marriage if it had happened, my personal preference was marriage first and then babies (also for the legal protection it affords me as the way lower earner). I don’t think there’s any shame in how a family is put together nowadays, it just depends on what you think and feel!

It’s great that you’ve started investigating your fertility. The low follicle count is for one ovary only, is there any possibility of rescanning to check the other?

I had ivf to conceive, and had to have extended stims because I didn’t respond terribly well. I remember being told just before egg collection I had almost 8 in one ovary, the other was useless. They managed to retrieve 6 eggs, 4 of which made it to blasts, and 2 of which became twins. Prior to starting ivf eventually, there was nothing ‘wrong’ with me, there’d been no indications as to why I’d struggle to conceive, all my hormone levels were ok etc.

I'd finish gathering all the fertility info about yourself that you can and discuss it with your Doctor so you know the position you’re in now and go from there.

Not necessarily super religious but my family do have ‘traditional values’ ie my boyfriend was conceived beforehand and his father quickly proposed to his mother so I’m not sure if there is stigma around it somewhere in the family.

yes I’m glad I started investigating when I have, I’ve booked a consultation with a GP and am going to go for hormone tests to detect hormone levels and maybe at some point book another ultrasound and hope they can see the left ovary this time

Thanks so much

@amby23 it varies monthly, less than 6 "could" be considered low. Have a read here.

https://www.fertilityfamily.co.uk/blog/how-many-eggs-per-follicle-everything-you-need-to-know/

Have you considered having a low key, affordable wedding now, and then trying to conceive after that?